Soap Makers Help!

[chiknwhisperer]

I want to use paprika to color my soap but I'm not sure how. I've read a little about it but I still could use some guidance. Thank you

 

[BirdBrain]

Try putting it in your lye water or your oils and mix it well with your stick blender...be careful. I used paprika and did not mix it well..I think I added it sometime after I added the lye...and I got DOS (dreaded orange spots). Of course it also had poppy seeds in there so it looked kinda cool after it was all said and done, but I really was looking forward to a salmon colored bar with little black spots.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I read in a book to let it soak in boiling water and then strain it and add some of your soap at light tracce and then pour it back into the rest of the soap and mix it all together. But I wanted to get other opinions of what to do since you guys are so good at this stuff. I'll try adding it to my oils first and see how that turns out.

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
I think I would go with an infusion method. I would use 1-2 tsp of papprika ppo(per pound of oil). I didn't like the scratchiness of the rosemary powder I used in a swirled soap, so next time I going to use a coffee filter with the spice or herb inside and tied with string and use that to infuse olive oil. Have you thought about clay? I love the feel on the pink clay I used.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I haven't thought about the clay yet. I want to try my hand at some swirls though. Do I just let the paprika set in the olive oil for a while?

 

[Morgaine]

I think a little heat would help things go a little faster. And you can use more paprika as long you don't leave it in the soap, but I think the color might turn more orangey.

 

[Morgaine]

With my Cinnamon swirl, that was the first time I used in the pot swirling. With my clay and rosemary powder soap I swirled in the mold. I think I like the look of in the pot better, but both were easy enough to do as long as you don't wait untill a very thick trace.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

do you just put the cinnamon in a filter to let it infuse?

 

[Morgaine]

No, I took about 1/2 cup of traced soap and mixed a small amount of cinnamon powder in and then I poured the colored soap back into the soap pot, making acircle and an X in the middle and then poured into my log mold. I'm not sure how to get swirls with infused oils. I thought you just wanted to color the whole thing.

I think I used to much rosemary powder in the first one cause I thought it was scratchy. I've tested a small piece of the cinnamon one and I can feel a grain or two, but it's not nearly as rough as the other.

 

[Morgaine]

Have any of you more experienced soap makers ever used eggs in your soaps? I know there was a recipe in TSC, but I don't have that in front of me and can't remember how it went.